Monday, August 17, 2015

Matt Panayides, Conduits

Guitarist Matt Panayides has been leading groups around New York and places far afield for 15 years. Dues he has paid and his playing and composing reflects that and a good bit of talent besides.

We have before us Matt's second album as a leader, Conduits (Pacific Coast Jazz 93430). It is a very nice showcase for Matt the contemporary changes-oriented plectrist and nicely open-ended composer of frameworks for the quartet featured here. It is Matt on electric guitar, Rich Perry in his own version of a Lovano-Garzone-Bergonzi sort of contemporary tenor style, Thomson Kneeland on acoustic bass and Mark Ferber on drums. (I reviewed Matt's first album favorably here. See the February 8, 2011 post for that.)

The rhythm team propulses and anchors well, the tunes have plenty of distinctive moods and modes to vary the program, and both Matt and Rich have space to lay out their good improvisatory ideas.

Matt has a line-orientation that is creative, satisfying and very spontaneously inventive. He post-bops with an immediacy, can invent some chordal figures that stand out, and generally carries himself very well indeed. Rich Perry gives out with contrasting lines that are supple and lively.

In short this is a fine example of a vital mainstream jazz guitarist and his band. It is a portrait that shines with a luster built out of long-time shedding, gigging and prevailing.

Grego's First Blog: 1,001 Knights, Reviews of Music CDs for Guitar, Bass and Otherwise

About This Blog

Grego Applegate Edwards writes this column.

The Gapplegate Guitar and Bass Blog has grown over several years to contain more than 1,000 reviews of CDs by guitarists, bassists, vocalists and otherwise. Each musician is a hero in my mind, a Knight in Shining Armor, devoting a lifetime to music that you can enjoy and treasure. Here are my 1,000 knights, and my many 1,000 nights spent listening so I could review this music for you. If you care about what you hear and want to know more about what is out there, you are the person I have in mind as I write these postings. If music isn't an important part of your life this blog is probably not for you.

Various musical genres get attention on these pages: jazz and rock with guitarists and/or bassists playing a prominent role, classical music for the guitar, world music, blues, roots, electric music, vocalists.

I cover other jazz and improvisation on the Gapplegate Music Review blog (see link on this page) and modern classical and avant garde concert music on the new blogsite Classical-Modern Music Review (see link).

About Me

I am a life-long writer, musician, composer and editor. I wrote for Cadence for many years, a periodical covering jazz and improv music. My combined Blogspot blogs (as listed in the links) now cover well over 3,000 recordings in review. It's been a labor of love. The music is chosen because I like it, for the most part, so you won't find a great deal of nastiness here. I have no affiliations and gain nothing from liking what I do, so that makes me somewhat impartial. I do happen to like a set of certain musics done well, so it's not everything released that gets coverage on these blogs. I have six volumes of compositions available on amazon.com. Just type in "Grego Applegate Edwards" to find them. I went to music and higher education schools and got degrees. It changed my life and gave me the ability to think and write better. I've studied with master musicians, too. The benefits I gained from them are invaluable. I appreciate my readers. You are why I write these reviews. I hope the joy of music enriches your life like it does mine. Thank you. And thank you to all the artists that make it possible.